Ronald J. "Arjo" Adams continues to fight condemnation of his 676 Wells St. home, which has been boarded up by the city of St. Paul and remains off-limits to him. Adams, who is living in a tent next to the property, recently hired a private building inspector to compare the home against a list of 38 deficiencies cited by city inspectors.

The fate of 676 Wells was scheduled to be determined by the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday night, but legislative hearing officer Marcia Moermond asked the city for another two weeks to determine whether the performance bond on repair work for his home was in order.

Adams also has submitted a loan application to Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services for help with repairs.

The city's Department of Safety and Inspections has estimated the house needs $50,000 in improvements, and the city has asked Adams to provide a performance bond proving he's financially capable of completing the work. Adams believes the necessary improvements would cost less than a tenth of that amount, and he's gotten a private inspector to concur.

"We think we can get it done quicker," Adams told the city council Wednesday. "We think we can get it done a lot cheaper."

Don Hedquist of Eden Prairie-based Building Inspection Service wrote in a Sept. 5 summary: "After reviewing the orders and having inspected the home, I cannot find any justification for having removed the owner from the home.

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No single order rises to the level that there is a present threat to the life, health and safety of the owner occupant. ... The work/cost for making the needed corrections to this home would be less than $5,000."

Hedquist said the most serious violations of city or state codes are missing smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors. He took issue with the city's negative findings toward the condition of the basement handrails and lawn steps and with the lack of weather sealing around the basement's egress window, among many other alleged code violations.

"The front door isn't weather-stripped. At the time this house was built, there (was) no requirement for weather stripping," Hedquist wrote. "Can you show where this type of deficiency is a threat to the life and/or safety of the owner occupant?"

Adams came to the attention of city officials years ago after he converted the vacant, city-owned lots on either side of his Wells Street home into colorful extensions of his own property, complete with walking paths, gardens and folksy artwork, as well as an elaborate stone retaining wall. The city mostly left him alone, but his house was inspected last year after officials discovered that the registered owner, Beth Woolsey, was working out of state. Adams has since added his name to the property title.

Neighbors have written letters of support for Adams, and other community members also are asking the city for more time.

On Sept. 20, the Payne-Phalen District Five Planning Council sent Moermond, the city's legislative hearing officer, a request for "an immediate re-inspection to establish the baseline condition of 676 Wells. ... There is apparent disagreement about how the written orders apply to the current conditions of the house. A re-inspection allows for fair and clear assessment of work that is completed or needs to be completed at this point in time."

The planning council also asked the city to waive a $5,000 performance bond and requested that the city consider a 120-day "cooling off period so that facts about the issue may be further explored and examined by DSI and the property owner. ... There are many commercial and residential properties that are in worse condition than 676 Wells."